Amusement device.



PATENTED FEB. 13, 1906 P. M. MALONEY.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.26, 1904.

3 SHEBTSEHEET 1 21 i if? K 9 llfifl 'mnmL WITNESSES: 6 015421 6W,

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PATENTED FEB. 13, 1906.

P. M. MALONEY. AMUSEMENT DEVICE. APPLICATION rILnh snrnzs. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- No. 12,577. 7 PATBNTED FEB. 13, 1906' P. M. MALONEY.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.26, 1904.

3 SHEETS-4111531 3.

2 7 WITNESSES: "IVE/{T0 6 M o l \\vwma\o g QQUAM 9 'PHILIP MERCERMALONEY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1906.

I Application filed September 26, 1904. $erial No. 225,881.

To all whom, it may concern:

'Be; it known that I, PHILIP MERCER MA- LONEY,.&'01tiZ(- I1 of theUnitedStates, and a resident .of the 'city of Philadelphia, State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAmusement Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and completedisclosure.

Briefly, vmy .invention comprises certain improvements in constructionand arrangement of parts 111 amusement devices, particularlythosedeviceswhich areadapted to carry cars or passenger-vehicles, so that the samemay revolveabouta vertical axis and under the influence of: centrifugalforce swing outwardly on a radiusandat the same time are at. othertimescollide or. inte'rferewitheachother.

A further object of myinvention is to provide suchv asupport'for theframe .and radial arms/that there will be no liability of strain-.ingthe driving-shaft. or other supporting parts due to .unequal'loading of the cars, whileat the same. time the'former are heldaccuratelyandflfirmlyin position, so that the power may be appliedthereto evenly and.

without undue strain on the driving mechan- Fora full, clear, and exactdescription of myinvention reference mayv be had to the followingspecification andv to the accompanyin drawings, forming a part thereof,in whic Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved amusement device.Fig-2 is an elevation of the upper, portion of the supporting-tower,showing the revolving portion of the'frame artly in section; Fig. v3, asectional view of the, pivot for supporting thev radial'arms and bracesat the top ofthe tower, so that the same may be pivoted. to swing abouta vertical axis. and at the same time. have a slightoscillating motion,if necessary. Fig. 4

is: a. bottom plan view of the upper portion of the pivot. or part whichrests on the top or 7 side a flange 1 1.

apex of the supporting-tower. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the radial armsand driving mechanism,

braces and the manner of suspending the cars from the radial arms. Fig.6 is a detail view showing the arrangement of the contacting arms forconducting the current from the stationary to the rotatable part of theframe.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a tower madeof-structural steel or otherwise in any. well-known manner, which restson suitable foundations 2 and preferably converges toward its top toreceive a cap or casting 3, upon which the rotary part of the frame ispivoted, and which also is adapted to carry the co'llecting-rings4 and5.

The radial arms '6, to which are attached the suspension devices 7 and 8which support the cars 9, are held in position in the following manner:A ring or circular rack 10 surrounds the tower' 1 and carries on itslower The radial arms. maybe composed of pipe .or structural iron andare firmly attached to the. ring 10' by means of bolts or rivets orother suitable devices. Upon the tower 1 is carried suitable bearing orbearings 13,'which support a vertical shaft 14, the upper end -of whichcarries a small gear or pinion 15. This gear or pinion 15 is adapted tome'shinteriorly with the rack-or ring 10, above mentioned. The tower orcentral frame'l also carries transverse bars or supports 16, which fixin position antifrictional rollers 17, which are adapted to contact withand formguides'for the ring 10 by engaging the flange 11. The shaft 14is con nected by suitable gearing to a rnotor'1'8, which obviously maybe either electric or a steam-engine or any other well-known source ofpower. It will be noticed that as the shaft 14 is not necessarilylocated in the center of the tower 1. greater space is thereby allowedfor the arrangement of the gearing, motor, and other parts. Insimilaramusement devices Where the shaft is located centrally the space betweenthe shaft and the outer supports of the tower which, is made availableis much less than in the present construction.

The radial arms which'support the cars 9 are preferably composed of.angle-bars or structural steel in the form of two diverging side strips22 and 24, one of which is riveted or otherwiseattached to the flange 12of the ring 10, while the other strip or angle-iron 22 is connected withthe adjacent strip 24. The

ing 21 at the top of the tower, and their lower ends are attached to theflange 12 of the ring 10.

The cars 9 are supported from the ends of the arms 6 by means of twopairs of suspension cables or rods, two of one pair, as indicated by 7,extending from the ends of the radial arms 6 to the adjacent ends of thecorrei sponding car, while two of the other pair extend to the oppositeends of the car, thereby crossing intermediate their length, and inconnection with the cables or rods of the first pair not only supportthe cars, but prevent-' ing a longitudinal movement thereof in relationto the radial arms. pecially important, as the cars are therebyprevented from moving forward or backward and from colliding orinterfering with each other. The cables or rods 7 and 8 are preferablyconnected to V-shaped straps or loops 26 and 27 which are attached toeach side of the frame of the cars 9. The casting 3 at the top of thetower 1 and the casting 21, to which the supporting-rods 19 and 20 areattached,

are provided at theiradj acent ends with rectangular'recesses which areadapted to contain pivot-blocks 27 and 28, which enter recessescontained in an intermediate pivotblock 29. These blocks 27, 28, and 29may be made of any suitable hard metal of good wearing qualities, suchas steel or phosphorbronze.

The rotating part of the device may be provided with suitable means forilluminating or decorating the same, such as by the lamps 30. Theselamps 30 are supplied with suitable electric current through the rings 4and 5, before mentioned, and the contacts or brushes 31, 32, 33, and 34.Each of these pairs of contactsas, for instance, 33 and 34are carried bya vertical pin or stud 35, which is attached to one of the supportingrods in any suitable manner, as indicated at 36, but is insulated fromsaid rod 20 by means of a bushing of fiber or other insulating material37. The contacts 33 and 34 are preferably pivoted on the stud 35 andcarry at their outer ends antifrictional rollers 38 and 39. Thecontact-arms 33 and 34 are also connected by a coil-spring 40, whichserves to draw the same together and into contact with thecollecting-ring 4. By this construction it will be seen that I haveprovided contacts which may readily yield to any irregularities of thering or with any m0- This feature is es tion of the rotating part of thesupporting frame, while at the same time'a constant and even contact ismaintained without any liability of arcing should one of theantifrictional wheels jump or become separated from its correspondingring. It is obvious that the collecting-rings 4 and 5 are in electricalconnection withany suitable source of electric current.

The operation of my improved amusement device will be obviousfrom aninspection of the drawings, it being sufiicient to say only that as themotor 18 drives the central shaft 14 the radial arms 6 will be rotatedand carry with them the cars suspended therefrom. The action ofcentrifugal force will throw the cars outwardly, so that the same willrevolve in greater and greater circles as the speed is increased, whileat the same time the cars become inclined laterally, owing to the fixedpoints of suspension at the ends of radial supporting-arms, Any unevenloading of the cars will not have a tendency to bend any of the parts ofthe device, and said parts will be held rigidly in position withoutundue friction by means of the guide-wheels and other parts connectedwith the radial arms.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to protectby Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an amusement apparatus, cars or vehicles adapted to carrypassengers, a rotatable frame, divergent suspension means for said carscomprising connections which extend from points above the ends of saidcars slantwise to points adjacent the opposite ends of said cars,thereby crossing above said cars,

connections extending directly from said points above said cars topoints adjacent the ends of said cars directly below, and loops for saidsuspensions, a pair of loops being located at each end of the car andhaving their lower ends attached to the opposite sides and on theoutside of said cars and having their upper ends attached to a pair ofdiverging suspensions.

2. In an amusement apparatus, a supporting-tower provided with a convexbearingblock at its apex, a rotatable frame having a convexbearing-block at its upper end, a double concave pivot-block interposedbetween the bearing-blocks of the tower and frame, and vehicles adaptedto carry passengers suspended from said frame.

7 3. In an amusement apparatus, a support ing-tower, a rotatable framesuspended from the top of said tower, said rotatable frame comprising anupper member pivotally mounted on the vupper end of said tower, ra dialarms attached to means adapted to engage the body of said tower to holdthe frame in position laterally, supporting members extending from saidupper member to the outer ends of said arms, and to said means forholding the frame against lateral movement, and

vehicles adapted to carry'passengers suspended from said arm.

4. In an amusement apparatus, a supporting-tower, a rotatable framesuspended from the top of said tower, comprising an upper memberpivotally mounted on the upper end of said tower, supports dependingfrom said upper member, a guide-ring surrounding said tower, providedwith arms, said supports being connected with said ring and said arms,vehicles adapted to carry passengers suspended from said arms, and amotor and a gearing between said motor and said ring for rotating saidframe.

5. In an amusement apparatus, a supporting-tower, a rotatable framesuspended from the top of said tower, and comprising an upper memberfrom which depend supportingrods, a guide-ring having an interior racksurrounding said tower, antifriction devices upon said tower engaging asmooth portion of said ring, an outwardly-extending flange upon saidring, arms attached to said flange,

said supporting-rods being attached to said arms and said flange,vehicles adapted to carry passengers suspended from said arm, and meansfor rotating said frame.

6. In an amusement apparatus, a supporting-tower, a rotatable framesuspended from the top of said tower, and comprising an upper memberfrom which depend supports, a guide-ring having a rack surrounding saidtower, a smooth track between said ring and said tower, antifrictiondevices also between said ring and saidtower engaging said track, armsattached to said guide-ring, said supports being attached to said armsand said ring, vehicles adapted to carry passengers suspended from saidarms, and means for rotating said frame.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day ofSeptember, A. D. 1904. PHILIP MERCER MALONEY.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. GRADY, Enw. W. VAILL, Jr.

